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Saturday, December 31, 2011

It is New Years Eve, the last day of 2011. This year has been a lot of things to many people, but for beer drinkers it has been a pretty decent year. All this week we have been reading the best/ worst articles floating around the news and the internet. We decided to compile one of our own from the best of category. As
stated before in this blog, beer is subjective. Like food, it has memories that
go with it and make it special, time and place become important. The beer
experience is enhanced by the surroundings, the people, and your state of mind.
With that in mind we each tackled the answer slightly differently.

Brian Smith

Westvleteren beers are considered some of the best in the world...we didn't have any of those this year.

Red Eye Almost 100% Organic
Pumpkin Ale. Pumpkin pie spice and aged over graham crackers (like their
holiday ale was too) Pumpkin pie in a glass…I don’t even like pumpkin pie, and
I couldn’t get enough

RogueJuniper Pale Ale – Tastes like a pine tree in a glass
according to my dad. To me, an IPA addict, that’s a pretty awesome thing. I
discovered it at the Chocolate Moose in Ely, Minnesota of all places.

LagunitasMaximus IPA – My absolute favorite IPA. Not very
common in the upper Midwest, I get a bit excited when I luck out and find it on
tap somewhere. Super hoppy, but still balanced, and not as much of a pucker-up
aftertaste as the other superhopped IPAs.

BreckenridgeVanilla Porter – Yeah, quite a few places make
a vanilla porter, but this was deep, rich, and smooth. One of the best I’ve
tried.

New GlarusStone Soup – This is my favorite beer and anytime I can get
back to Wisconsin and find it makes me a happy man. I made it back this last
May and brought a case back east with me. I don't know if New Glarus will be producing this in 2012 and if not that really sucks.

ShmaltzHe'brew Jewbelation 15 – A revelation and by far the best holiday
beer I had. I recently got a second bottle to age out and I am looking forward
to Jewbelation 16. I shared this with my father-in-law over Christmas.

BrueryCoton – Shared this with my best friend Rob back in May. We
didn’t know what we had, it was my first Bruery experience, but we enjoyed the
hell out that bottle. Maybe I should have aged that bottle but if you can’t
share a ridiculously good beer with your best friend then fuck off. Seriously.

Dogfish HeadTheobroma – Shared this with my brother Cody and his friend
Matt while playing Settlers of Catan in September the night before we went to
the Packers - Panthers game in Charolotte. It was delicious and both Cody and I
are searching for another bottle of it.

ShinerRuby Redbird – I drank gallons of this over the
summer. I don’t know why it grabbed me like it did, but once it got a hold on
me it became my go to summer beer. I still have one bottle left in the fridge
that I will break out early next year on a cold winter’s day to remind me that
summer does come back.

Honorable Mentions: New GlarusSpotted Cow in the stands at
Lambeau Field and the Red Eye Rye Porter at the tailgate earlier that day.

So there you go, our favorites or "best" beers of 2011. What were yours? Tell us down in the comments!

I drank this from my new Spiegelau tulip glass from a
freshly filled growler (10 minutes from the tap at the brewery to my glass at
home.) It poured slightly hazy with a white fluffy head filling the glass with
a bright sunny golden color. It is crisp, clean, and mildly sweet on the tongue
as you drink it; though the aftertaste has a faint spicy weight to it. I think
it is atypical to Belgian style golden ale, but it is delicious.

I have been drinking Tidings over the last week and I have
been consistently surprised at how refreshing this beer is. It is not like all
the other festive beers I have been drinking at or reviewing. It clocks in with
a sly 7.8% ABV but the alcohol is hidden very well. I could easily see myself
enjoying this on a hot summer day. I do hope this will be a reoccurring
seasonal because I will purchase it without hesitation again.

Full disclosure, I
have a bias for Port City Brewing, they are my local, only about a block away
from where I hang my hat. I recently started getting growlers filled there,
they are wonderful people, and I hope they are successful.

It poured a bronze color, clear, with a light tannish head
that stuck around longer than expected. (It was a hard pour, but worth it for
the blast of caramel that filled the air.) I drank this out of a lager glass.
It has a smooth, malty taste that stays with you through the drink and into the
aftertaste. This is also when the alcohol reveals itself, but it doesn’t stay
around long. It comes in a winter sessionable 6.4% ABV.

Overall Ebenezer Ale is an easy to drink beer, not as rich or with
as much caramel taste as I expected when poured but definitely enjoyable and a
good party companion. You could work through several bottles of this in a row and not
get bored.

My first thought when I drank this was, well that is different,
particularly from the other two beers that I had reviewed earlier. It poured a
clear copper color in the lager glass, the head dissipating quickly. It has a
nice carbonation on the tongue and a fair share of hops that stand up as you
swallow the ale and mingle with the bitterness in the aftertaste. They are
never at the forefront though. This ale is not heavy on the drink. You could
easily session this ale, and while lighter than expected, it has a nice body to
it for winter drinking. I only had one bottle of the Winter Welcome Ale and this is disappointing because I would like to try a few more to form a more thorough
opinion.

Normally I would include the "propaganda" on each beer from the brewery, but this has been long enough. Enjoy the rest of the holiday season and thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

The year might be almost over, but new things are still happening here! That's right folks, we have recorded our first podcast. The "we" in question is your hosts Skye Marthaler and Dan Maiella. In this our very 1st edition, we discuss beer in the news, how rock bands are paid in NYC, bad explanations about glassware, and other random bits of information.

If you like it, have suggestions for improvement, recommendations for other topics then please let us know down in the comments.

So now I am cellaring beer, slowly building up my stocks in the basement but, as stated in the subtitle above, to what end? As discussed in part 1, the reasons I started this were not necessarily the reasons people do it. To be frank, my reasons were more driven by “necessity” than any overarching goal or purpose; I don’t drink fast enough, I get bored, and my compulsion to try new styles runs over my good sense. (An apt comparison for my beer consumption is Pokemon (Gotta Drink’em all!)) Toss into the mix that I give beer second chances and you end up with a nice bit of disorganized cellaring. So I find myself in a bit of a cycle. My little completionist obsession to “drink ‘em all,” mixed with disposable income, stirred by the knowledge that I have the space to do this puts me in my present predicament...which isn’t quite right. I enjoy the position I find myself in. I get to satisfy my compulsion, drink beer at my pace, and the best part, if I don’t like something or I get bored I take the remaining bottles and put them in the “special reserve selection” to temper their perceived deficiencies or enjoy them at my convenience. It’s a win-win!All those puzzle pieces have organized themselves into something bigger and expanded the answer of “to what end?” At present if asked my answer is twofold, the first being I find myself purchasing differently now. I find myself buying beer more like folks buy wine. I’m purchasing more and more beer in bombers or larger bottles. Once upon a time it was a rare occurrence when I would buy them, not because of the beer inside but because of the quantity that needed to be consumed after cracking it open. A not impossible task to enjoy by yourself, but better enjoyed by friends. Similar in size to a wine bottle, it makes for easy cellaring and more often than not the contents in these bottles are the big, bold, complexstyles that can be aged. The other answer is a little more esoteric. I have become captivated by the idea of “the perfect bottle” and let’s be honest here, it borders on the pretentious and ridiculous side of things. Here is a personal example of beer perfection. Several weeks ago I was drinking Spotted Cow in the stands of Lambeau Field while my Green Bay Packers played football below with friends to my right and left. For me it is a perfect memory. At that time and place I don’t know if a better beer would have fit the situation for me. (Yes, there are better beers out there but at that time and place for Skye Marthaler Spotted Cow was the best beer) Remember folks, beer is subjective and our so are our experiences with it. So what does that example have to do with my still nascent idea of “the perfect bottle?” First off this concept is built on two tenets this blog promotes.

Beer should always be approachable

There is a time and place for every beer.

Simply put the “perfect bottle” is having the right beer at the right time for the right people. Here is where cellaring comes in, it gives you the luxury of time and allows you to plan for your beer future because sometimes you have to wait for the the right beer and drinkers to show up. Next time I’ll discuss a bit more of what is currently living in my special reserves and how I decide what goes and what stays.

We will closing down the year with a final review of a festive beer yet to be selected and maybe some commentary on the side. We will have a beer roundtable of the best five beers each of us fellows have had this year and I swear Brian will have an edition of “To the Lab.” We hope your holiday season so far has been joyous and festive. As always you can find us on twitter: @beerfellowsSee what we are drinking on Untappd: BeerFellows

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Folks, we here at Jolly Good Fellows appreciate a good brew, but during this holiday season, and at all times really, we want people to not only enjoy beer but also be responsible and safe. If you have been drinking don't drive. Turn over your keys to your host, take a cab, or designate a driver. Christmas is so much more merry when we are all there to enjoy it.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Jewbelation 15 is an excellent beer. It is rich, complex, spicy, and incredibly smooth. This is beer as a port wine. There is so much going on that I would actually prefer this as an digestif after a meal.

It poured an incredibly deep clear bronze with a rich tan head that hung around a lot longer than I expected. I drank this out of a port glass. At first sip you get a mouthful of spice that stays with you throughout the quaff and lingers in the aftertaste. For me it is a very pleasant taste and it leaves a tingle on the sides of the tongue. The beer is a lot smoother than you would expect with a lot of caramel taste. This is a beer that you have to be careful with though, it comes in at a big but devious 15% ABV. The alcohol is masked very well by the smorgasboard of hops and malts.

My only regret is that I did not purchase another bottle to age out. Here is to finding another couple of bottles to store because this beer will get better with age. For me this hits all the marks of an excellent beer. It hits the spot of everything I want in a winter seasonal beer.

Jewbelation is a series that has been going since 2004. Jewbelation 15, a kosher beer brewed by Shmaltz Brewing Company out of Saratoga Springs, New York, celebrates the brewery's 15 years of brewing. I looked for the "propaganda" on the beer but really couldn't find much from the brewery other than the importance of number of 15.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

This last weekend I was sorting through my latestholidaybeerpurchases deciding which ones would be drunk over the holidays, and which
ones were to be shelved away until a future yet to be
determined. It dawned on me that I should discuss my cellaring
madness. Our wine friends have been doing this for years to great acclaim and
success. Guess what, beer can do it to. I’d like to share how I came to this,
why I do it now, and how I go about it and what the pros recommend.

Part One: How I
arrived at this condition of storing awesome beer in my basement for sustained
periods of time

Three things got me into aging beer; one is my never ending desire
to try new things, particularly beers. As you may have picked up as a reader of
this blog I love beer a lot, it makes me happy and I like to talk about it. At
the same time I also have a weird little completionist quirk. I want to try, at
least once, every beer I see. This is clearly impossible, but I’m ok with it. I
walk into a store, see brews I have never tried and buy them. Sometimes I get
multiple different brews. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The second factor frankly is that my spendable income
increased over the last decade. More purchasing power lets me buy more beer.
Combine that with my little desire to trying everything means that I usually
overbuy. It’s incredibly difficult to go into a beer isle and walk out with
only one thing. Sometimes the selection available is overwhelming to me. But
let us get back on topic, simply put, my supply overruns my demand meaning I
have to find homes for the excess.

The third is once again another confession on my part. It
involves a bottle of 2001 Sierra NevadaBigfoot Barleywine. A decade ago, while
living in Stevens Point, I spied a sixer of it in JR’s, my local bottle shop at
the time. I jumped right on it and bought it with my usual enthusiasm. It was
everything a barleywine should be but I couldn’t stand it. Originally I argued
the beer had skunked out, but the truth of the matter was at that time I was
not smart enough or experienced enough to enjoy what I was drinking.

This started it (2010 model shown) Picture by Sierra Nevada

Five of the bottles were drunk. One bottle though, passed
notice living on a side shelf in Rob’s fridge for the next eight years. Every
so often we would laugh and joke about it being still in there and I would trot
out my little heresy on how the batch was skunky. Rob eventually gave the
bottle to a good friend of his, Chris, who took it home, cracked it open, drank
it, and promptly declared it phenomenal, one of the best things he had ever
drank. (Another confession, (You’re getting the two for one special today) I
enjoy barleywines now, but I have never went back to the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot,
someday soon I will have to remedy that.)

When Rob informed me of Chris’ discovery I was a bit
shocked, one that the bottle had survived that long in Rob’s fridge, (He was developing and refining his tastes for beer diversity over the years and has an unquenchable thirst) and
two what an idiot I was for never taking another chance. Eight years from the
time the Bigfoot was unintentionally laid down not only had the beer aged and
improved but so had I. Now I was ready for the beer but the beer was gone.
Disappointed but not dismayed that experience lent itself to the third factor. I
give beer second chances.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

In the spirit of Hanukkah and to tide you over until I finish some beer commentary and the Jewbelation review here is an excellent little article and radio spot on the Jewish brewing community and its history.

Now on Tap: Beer Chocolates and Candy Marketed to Men (ABC News) I have a ridiculous sweet
tooth so I would be game to try these. I think the best one is the stout
caramel bars….holy shit these are expensive! A good sixer of beer or a small
bag of candies? I think the decision is pretty self-evident.

Fear the beer bill
(Daily Local News) My views on blue laws are pretty simple, get rid of
them. I understand the complaints, but it is monopoly breaking in a sense and
it brings Pennsylvania in line with a fair portion of the nation. It will be
better for consumers and the brewers.

On that note here is what will be happening hopefully around
the site this week. A small piece on cellaring tomorrow, a review of
Jewbelation on Wednesday, and on Thursday you can expect the last minute beer
gift guide just in time for last second gift buying this weekend.

We missed “Welcome to your weekend” this last weekend, but
it’ll be back in time for Christmas holiday.

As always you can find us on Twitter at: @beerfellows and
you can friend us on Untappd to see what we are drinking also under
beerfellows.

If you have thoughts, comments, or recommendations on the
blog let us know in the comments. As always thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!

The Mad Elf I am reviewing though is slightly different
having been aged an additional year. It was originally purchased in a sixer
last year at this time. I drank or shared the others, but saved one. Describing
Mad Elf to a friend I once called it “Fruitcake in a bottle…but better.” That
does fruitcake more justice than it deserves but I think the point still
stands. This is a big complex beer with a lot of pieces to it. This bottle has
aged well over the last year, becoming rounder, smoother, and the alcohol has
better presence, now hovering in the background. Overall it has become better
mannered.

As has been the case lately I drank this out of my Hamm’s
chalice. It poured with little head and a very nice reddish bronze color. It
drank very smoothly with a pleasant aftertaste of honey, a bit of a spice, and
just a hint of fruit.

I like this better than the younger version currently in the
refrigerator. My gig on the “fresh” stuff is that the alcohol is interruptive.
It masks the other ingredients and takes away from the beer. The aged version
behaves better and frankly has improved itself. No matter what version of Mad Elf you find yourself with, be
advised that it has a bit of punch coming in at 11% ABV. This year I am saving
two bottles, one for next year and one for 2013. I recommend this beer and I always
pick up a few sixers every year for the holidays. (Mad Elf is a Book beer and
can be found on page 181)

I would marry this beer label if I could.

The other selection for the evening couldn’t be more
different. It is Our Special Ale 2011 by Anchor Brewing Company also known as “Anchor
Christmas Ale.” I bought a sixer of this at my local supermarket just the other
day while tracking down selections for reviewing.

This poured nice deep rich brown color, burnt sienna /
umber, with a big tan head. The head stayed around for awhile too and the beer
laces up the glass as you drink it. I drank this out of a pub glass. The spices
are immediately evident on pour and as you bring the glass up to drink. It is a
chewy beer and it has a distinct aftertaste that, for me, took awhile to get
used to. It is a woody taste that stays with you for a bit.

While dark and laden with spice this was a pleasant change
of pace after the Mad Elf and I would drink this during a holiday meal. It
comes in at a sessionable 5.5% ABV. It was interesting to find out that Anchor
Brewing adjusts the recipe every year on this beer so no two years are the
same. (I think that is pretty cool.) Since this is my first year trying it I
have no basis of comparison to previous models.

The final line for me on this beer is that I am glad I picked
up the sixer, but I won’t get another till next year. If you like dark holiday
beers with a big spice kit then you may wish to track this down. (This is also
a Book beer and can be found on page 912.)

"Propaganda" on the two selections

Mad Elf

The Mad Elf, a cheerful creation to warm your heart and enlighten your tongue. The combination of Cherries, Honey, and Chocolate Malts delivers gentle fruits and subtle spices. Fermented and aged with a unique yeast, this ruby red beer has significant warming strength that underlies the pleasant character of this intriguing yet delicious Ale. The Mad Elf, a jolly and delicious beer for the Holidays.

Anchor Christmas Ale

Each year since 1975, Anchor Brewing creates a distinctive Christmas Ale, available from early November to mid-January. A rich, dark spiced ale, our secret recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Sunday morning dawned cold and clear. After grabbing a quick
breakfast down at Luna Cafe in De Pere, (a cozy eatery that made an
excellent latte and had delicious scones) we stopped at the supermarket on the
way back to the hotel to stock up on food and drink, well aware that everyone
else was bringing drink and vittles. The basic items filled the cart fast, hot
dogs, bratwursts, buns, chips etc. All was proceeding quickly until I walked
into the “Beer Cave” There I spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure out
what beer to take with me. (A quick side note on how I buy beer. If in a new
area, or someplace I haven’t been in awhile I go out of my way to buy new
styles or try new breweries.)

Your fearless author almost
throws out his back
(Photo by Summer Marthaler)

By the time we had arrived back at the hotel and checked
out, Justin had arrived. We tossed in his gear in the trunk, piled into the
rental and headed over to Lambeau Field. Tailgating at Lambeau is a must for
any NFL fan. For thirty bucks we had parking in a backyard mere yards from the
stadium, and to top it off parking for most of the rest of the crew showing up.
The last time I parked this close to the entrance was in November at the
Chargers-Packers game. There I had to have a special parking permit and I was
glad I was driving a brand new Cadillac. Here it was open to the masses.

A motley crew with our token Raider fan

Shortly after we arrived the rest of the tailgating team turned up. First to
arrive was Summer and Jake, having driven in from Goodrich, followed minutes
later by Davey and Bones. Matt and Ann would arrive later in the afternoon.

Jake, Summer, friends & Bones

The grill was fired up, the brats were soon on, and the beer
started to flow. The first to go was the Rye Porter and IPA that Justin had
brought with him from Red Eye Brewing in Wausau. The Rye Porter was
fantastically delicious. Soon we were into the bottles of New Glarus and Capital Brewery. Jake and Summer worked on the Miller Lite they had brought, content to
drink a beer that was comfortable for them. Between the food and beer, the bean
bag boards were set up for some “fierce” competition and general trash talking.

I walked into Lambeau with a mild buzz, a full stomach and
over the next few hours watched the Green and Gold dismantle the Silver and
Black much to Brian’s chagrin. I kept my whistle wet with first a Miller
Genuine Draft provided by Justin, and then discovered that New Glarus SpottedCow was being served at the stadium. A couple of those lasted until the last
second ticked of the clock.

As Brian would say, a pilgrim heading into an unholy land.
(Photo by Brian Smith)

We all
gathered after the game, but the energy had drained out, washed away by the
excitement and the cold. Brian and I drank the Lithias while waiting for the
traffic to clear out, divvied up the remaining beer with Davey, and said our goodbyes as friends and family departed. It
was evening when we left Green Bay heading southbound chasing red lights down Interstate 43 back to Milwaukee.

Late that night in the Best Western by Mitchell Field
Airport Brian and I ate some wings and fried cheese curds. I washed mine down with a
Coke, the alcohol of the last two days finally catching up, my taste buds
demanding something different. Brian was resolute and polished off one more
beer, this time a PointAmber.

The Seats (Photo by Brian Smith)

The early morning flight on Monday was packed with tourists
and business men but still uneventful. The travel had wiped me out, but Brian
had to rally and head into work for the afternoon. We brought back four bottles
along with some cheese curds from “downtown” Gad, Louie’s Demise Ale by
Milwaukee Brewing Company, O’so Night Train, and New Glarus Chocolate Abbey and
Back 40 Bock. Two went with Brian, the Night Train and Bock, while I bagged the
others. I drank one on the evening I returned. The Chocolate Abbey will be put
in the reserve stocks to age for a year.

Brian showed more fight than his team.

This was an experience where beer played a central role and
to me it encapsulates what Jolly Good Fellows is all about. Enjoying beer, both
new styles and brands, and those that are tried and true, rekindling
friendships and creating new experiences and starting your own traditions. For
me being a proud son of Wisconsin, drinking Spotted Cow and watching a Packers
game from the stands of Lambeau Field with my friends goes down as one of my
all time great beer memories. It was a little slice of heaven.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Brace yourselves
folks. This one is going to be long and in two parts.

This is a story about
the NFL and beer, two of my favorite things in life. But even before that it is
a story about two friends going on an adventure

Prologue

It
started innocently enough several months ago when the current NFL schedule was
released. My friend Brian, (and contributor to this site), noted the Oakland Raiders would be
playing the Green Bay Packers this season. This is not an event that occurs frequently, every four years to be precise. This time the game would be hosted
by Green Bay. Brian, a true black and silver Raiders fan from Oakland, and I initially
decided we would have to find a bar or pub to watch the game. As we discussed
this problem of logistics the genesis of an idea occurred and it hinged on one
important fact. We are "respectable adults" with income. Why go
to the bar when we could actually go to the game instead. It was agreed
upon as a worthy cause and we turned our hands to planning this jaunt to the
Midwest.

December took forever
and then just showed up. An uneventful flight brought us to Milwaukee. A
quick conversation with the friendly woman at the car rental got us the
wheels for our northward leg up the western coast of Lake Michigan. A stop
north of Milwaukee netted us butter burgers at Culvers. We arrived at our
destination as the sun was setting, the sky growing a deepening shade of pink.

Green Bay is a
pleasant Midwestern town on the shores of Lake Michigan, cut through by the Fox
River. Lambeau Field dominates the landscape, the decorations and paraphernalia hammers home
the fact that the Green Bay Packers are not only the only show in town but
beloved for it. For a lifelong Packer fan though, the trip to Lambeau
Field is the hajj to Mecca. Curly and Vince are the saints of Packer
fandom standing before the entrance of the one's namesake and where the other
fashioned a team and lead them to halcyon days. All fans have their
totems, but for Packer fans 1265 Lombardi Avenue is their
crown jewel.

Lambeau Field is a cathedral
to Packers football and many Packers fans take pride that they have a stake in
the team. The cynic in me lauds the fact that the Green and Gold propaganda
machine is in full force to reinforce the believers and proselytize to the
unwashed. Even Brian, the diehard Raiders fan, found it impressive. We
meet up with Justin (commenter JZee1) and his family and for ten dollars each we
toured through the Packers Hall of Fame, a celebration of past and current
glories and Packer greats. A view of the four Lombardi trophies in the
sanctum of the Hall of Fame concluded our visit for this day.

Instead of retiring
to Curly’s Pub, the bar /restaurant located at the stadium, the
group headed across town down by the river to Titletown Brewing Company. A former railway depot right located by the still functioning railroad
it has been repurposed as a brewery and restaurant. For the last month leading
up to this weekend I had been looking forward to visiting this establishment.
In particular one beer had captivated my imagination, the RooSession Ale, due
to my fondness of English style bitters and I couldn't wait to try it.

When we arrived at the brewery the
place was packed with Packer fans and locals, with a waiting time of two hours
for eating. Fortunately the bar was open and we quickly sidled up to it andordered our first round, me asking for the coveted
RooSession ale, Brian an Expect the Wurst Amber, and Justin a Hopasaurus Rex
IPA. Our barman, sporting a green Clay Matthews jersey, quickly
filled several perfect pints with our selections. The RooSession Ale was off a
nitro pour, it was creamy, drinkable, with a slightly bitter tea aftertaste.
I wasn't disappointed, but it would turn out to not be one of the evenings beer highlights.

We quickly fell into conversation
about the pros and cons of our respective selections, the joy and insanity
of hops, and our favorite beers. Eventually a table cleared and we were
seated. I ordered an elk burger which would come to haunt me over the
course of the next twelve hours, but it was excellent while eating it. The
piece de resistance though was the giant baked pretzel. This thing was enormous
but still incredibly tasty with a crispy outer crust and chewy inside. Perfect for soaking up the pints we had already put down.

We didn't quite make it
through the draught board, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Among the three
us beer drinkers we did sample most of the draught board. Standouts for the
evening included the Hopasaurus Rex, Dark Helmet Schwartzbier and St. Norbert’s
Abbey Ale. We departed the brewery with full stomachs and a thirst mostly
quenched but Brian and I made one final stop at a small market to pick up to sixers of Capital Brewery’s
Winter Skal and Wisconsin Amber to tide us through for the rest of the evening.
Game day was tomorrow.

Wine soars as beer goes flat (Sydney Morning Herald) Interesting article on Australian consumption of alcohol. Beer consumption is down, but I think the stats are slightly misleading. A couple of good points on craft beers.

In site news!Tomorrow you can expect a write up of our Lambeau adventure, on Wednesday another holiday beer is reviewed, (If you have recommendations let us know in the comments) Thursday is more commentary, and on Friday To the Lab returns! As always you can follow us on Twitter: @beerfellows We have also started using the Untappd App, username beerfellows. See what we're drinking there!